“The value strategy, aimed at growing the subscriber base and reducing costs, delivered a further $15-million in cost savings,” the media and Internet group said. The South African video entertainment business delivered “solid trading profits and generated meaningful cash flows”.

However, churn was up at its premium level, which Naspers put down to the financial challenges facing many markets in Africa, and not to competition from new entrants Netflix. ARPU has fallen from $27 a year ago to the current $25, as viewers traded down to lower-priced packages.